Yeshiva World News

The Maryland Commission on Human Relations has ruled that a condominium board’s decision to prevent residents from using a rear door as a shortcut to an adjacent synagogue discriminates against a disabled resident. (more…)

A protest by Brazilian Jews has prevented a new men’s store in Fortaleza from opening under the name Fuhrer after a campaign by local Jews – reports the JTA. The store had reportedly been using the slogan “Fuhrer: fashion for the man who knows to be a leader.” It also advertised with colors of the German flag and a photo of a child in a Nazi outfit talking to a train conductor.

Italy’s University of Teramo shut down part of its campus on Friday to block a lecture by a Holocaust denier who had been invited to speak by a professor, the Associated Press reported. The Holocaust denier, Robert Faurisson, is a former French professor who has been convicted repeatedly of violating laws that prohibit the denial of crimes against humanity. Such laws are on the books in several European countries. (more…)

The nation’s first Hebrew-English charter school is set to open Aug. 20 in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The word of mouth response to its establishment has been simply overwhelming. So overwhelming that school principal Rabbi Adam Siegel must already consider expanding enrollment to include additional grades. (more…)

Thousands of people took part today in a Yartzheit gathering in memory of R’ Ovadia of Bartenura ZATZAL who is buried at Har Hazeisim (Yerushalayim). Rabbi Ovadia lived in Italy in the second half of the 15th century in Italy and eventually moved to Yerushalayim, where he was Niftar in approximately the year 1500. He was well known for his role as a Rov in Bartinoro, Italy, and for his illuminating Pirush on the Mishnah. Yehi Zichro Baruch.

Volksfront, a virulently racist and anti-Semitic group comprised mostly of neo-Nazi skinheads, is growing in prominence in the United States and internationally, with chapters in Canada, Spain, Australia Germany and Portugal.  A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) identifies Volksfront as one of the most active skinhead groups in the United States, with a range of activities including distributing newsletters, rallies, recruitment and promoting the hate music subculture. (more…)

Swastikas have been found on a Yeshiva building over Shabbos in Chaifa. Various Seforim were found burned as well – including a Tanach. Police are investigating the incident & have no suspects.

According to a report in Friday’s Asbury Park Press, the movement to recall Lakewood Township Committeeman Charles Cunliffe has been halted. Ben Weber, a member of The Committee to Recall Charles Cunliffe, said enough signatures to force a recall election were within reach, but the effort was stopped in late March because “(Cunliffe) is better off under the threat of another recall then bringing in someone new who’s unknown.” (more…)

The low building at the west of the Western Wall Plaza was demolished last Friday to make room for a new structure to meet the needs of visitors coming to pray at the Kosel Maarovi. The razed structure was used to house the police station and the Western Wall offices. While making preparations for construction, chambers from various periods were found underground, posing a threat to the new structure. (more…)

A black swastika desecrated the mahogany front door of the Randall Manor synagogue, and another, larger swastika, drawn sloppily and backward, was scrawled on a side entrance of the brick building, about 30 feet away. The vandal’s tag stood out like a slap against the synagogue’s welcome plaque, where the limestone is still slightly discolored from sandblasting away the painful emblem of Nazi Germany left there just 18 days before. (more…)

The Fallsburg Town Board will vote Tuesday on the proposed new zoning and zoning guidelines. The meeting starts at 8 p.m. at the Woodridge Municipal Building. The proposal would reduce the size of the town’s business and industrial districts and nearly double the acreage for agricultural uses. New restrictions on the residential “recreation” districts are aimed at preserving the town’s rural character. (more…)

Police departments throughout New Jersey plan an aggressive seat belt enforcement campaign starting Monday and expected to last until June 3. According to the Asbury Park Press, in the year 2005 43,443 people were killed on the roads in the United States, including 768 in New Jersey. Of those in New Jersey, 229 weren’t buckled. An estimated 90 percent of New Jerseyans use a seat belt — the eighth highest rate in the nation in 2006, according to the NHTSA. During last year’s enforcement campaign, 56,300 tickets were issued, down from 65,500 in 2005.

New York State police and hundreds of other law enforcement agencies will be kicking off a two-week seat-belt enforcement campaign Monday. State police officials said troopers and officers from more than 500 police agencies will be setting up safety restraint checkpoints throughout New York. The enforcement measures are timed to coincide with Memorial Day weekend, one of the biggest travel weekends of the year. During last year’s “Buckle Up America Week,” state police said more than 10,000 tickets were issued to motorists not wearing seat-belts.